Here's the latest installment of 10 things to do in Northeast Ohio, a weekly list of coming arts, culture and entertainment events that runs each Thursday on CrainsCleveland.com. (And don't play much attention to the "10" there; most weeks we include more.)Among some of the fun things on tap for the next week: Of Montreal (above left) at the Beachland Ballroom, 'The Birds' at Cleveland Cinematheque; 'Potted Potter,' a 70-minute, comedic retelling of the Harry Potter saga, at PlayhouseSquare; rising rapper/hip-hop artist A$AP Ferg at the Grog Shop in Cleveland Heights; and a discussion about Middle East politics sponsored by the Cleveland Council on World Affairs.Have suggestions for future events you'd like to see in this feature? Send submissions to managing editor Scott Suttell at ssuttell@crain.com.

Art

You only have until Nov. 3 to check out “Line Color Illusion: 40 Years of Julian Stanczak,” an Akron Art Museum exhibition that showcases paintings and prints the institution has collected since 1970. It documents the career of Mr. Stanczak, a longtime resident of Northeast Ohio and retired Cleveland Institute of Art professor who earned international recognition as a pioneer of “Op Art,” a style based on optical illusion, following his first New York exhibition at Martha Jackson Gallery in 1964. The Akron Art Museum has been a longtime supporter of Mr. Stanczak; it hosted one of the first public museum exhibitions of his work and acquired the painting “Dual Glare” in 1970. Information on the show is available here.

Classical music

David Sedaris

Haven't been to Transformer Station yet? A musical performance at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 27, gives you a good excuse to check out the contemporary art space in Ohio City. Irish-born viola player Garth Knox will perform “an evocative mixed program of early, contemporary, and traditional music,” according to Transformer Station, accompanied by special guest Scott Dixon, double bassist of the Cleveland Orchestra. Tickets are $20 ($18 for members) and available online, at the Cleveland Museum of Art box office and at Transformer Station. Seating is limited, so you'll need to act fast. Go here to learn more.

Composer and violinist Mark O'Connor is joined by fellow violinist Kelly Hall-Thompkins, violist Gillian Gallagher and cellist Patrice Jackson in a concert of Mr. O'Connor's original works at the Cleveland Museum of Art at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 30. This special event is a collaboration between the Cleveland Institute of Music's Mixon Hall Masters Series: Return of the Composer/Virtuoso and the Cleveland Museum of Art's Performing Arts Series: Masters of the Violin. The evening kicks off at 6 p.m. in Gartner Auditorium, when CIM president Joel Smirnoff, himself a violinist, hosts a pre-concert talk with Mr. O'Connor. Details are here.

Comedy

David Sedaris has become one of America's leading humor writers, and he stops at PlayhouseSquare's Palace Theater at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 29, to share his cultural observations, hilarious family stories and more. Mr. Sedaris' stories appear regularly in The New Yorker, and his essay collections, including “Holidays on Ice,” “Naked” and “Me Talk Pretty One Day,” have been huge best-sellers. His most recent book is “Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls.” Go here for more about his Cleveland appearance.

Dance

An image from the 1963 film 'The Haunting,' directed by Robert Wise.

Oct. 25-26: GroundWorks DanceTheater kicks off its fall performance series on Friday, Oct. 25, and Saturday, Oct. 26, at the Allen Theatre at PlayhouseSquare with the world premiere of new works by Israeli guest choreographer Noa Zuk and GroundWorks artistic director David Shimotakahara. Both shows start at 8 p.m. The program also will include Kate Weare's 2013 commissioned work “Inamorata.” Groundworks says Ms. Zuk, a former performer with the Batsheva Dance Company in Israel, and her creative partner, Ohad Fishof, spent four weeks in residence with GroundWorks this past summer collaborating with the company. Go here for information.

Film

Halloween's only a few days away, so Cleveland Cinematheque is giving you the chance to get scared by two classics from 1963. Screening this Saturday, Oct. 26, and Sunday, Oct. 27, are Alfred Hitchcock's “The Birds” — a trippy, unsettling story of birds descending on a California coastal town for no apparent reason, attacking and terrorizing the residents— and Robert Wise's “The Haunting,” about a group of people who spend a few nights in an eerie mansion with a history of insanity and death to determine whether it's haunted. Most everyone knows “The Birds” and its iconic performance from Tippi Hedren. If you haven't seen “The Haunting,” you're in for a treat; Cinematheque notes that no less than Martin Scorsese considers it the scariest movie of all time. Showtimes and more are here.

Jazz

A$AP Ferg

As it gets cold in Northeast Ohio, New Orleans starts to sound pretty good. We can't bring southern warmth here, of course, but the Preservation Hall Jazz Band can make the trip. The band, which derives its name from the venerable music venue in the heart of the French Quarter, performs at 7 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 27, at Severance Hall. Go here for event ticket information and here to learn more about Preservation Hall Jazz Band.

Popular music

It's a huge few days on the music front in Northeast Ohio. On Saturday, Oct. 26, check out about 30 local musicians performing “The Nightmare Before Christmas” at Beachland Ballroom. The next day, Sunday, Oct. 27, singer-songwriter Rickie Lee Jones performs at the Beachland. (Information on both those shows is here.) Also on Sunday, Oct. 27, is a performance by Brian Wilson and Jeff Beck at E.J. Thomas Hall in Akron. (Go here for information on that rare teaming.) Innovative rockers Of Montreal, from Athens, Ga. (go figure), stop at the Beachland on Tuesday, Oct. 29. And on Wednesday, Oct. 30, you can check out hot rapper/hip-hop artist A$AP Ferg at the Grog Shop in Cleveland Heights. Information on that 9 p.m. show is here.

Theater

Chris Toensing, editor of Middle East Report, speaks at the Union Club downtown on Wednesday, Oct. 30.

Don't have time to read all seven “Harry Potter” books? Don't worry — “Potted Potter: The Unauthorized Harry Experience — A Parody by Dan and Jeff” condenses the epic story — including a game of Quidditch — into 70 minutes on stage. The show, created by two-time Olivier Award-nominated actors Daniel Clarkson and Jefferson Turner, is at PlayhouseSquare's Ohio Theatre for five shows this Friday, Oct. 25, through Sunday, Oct. 27. Ticket information is here.

World affairs

Chris Toensing, executive director of the Middle East Research and Information Project and editor of its magazine, Middle East Report, comes to Cleveland on Wednesday, Oct. 30, to talk about “The United States and the Arab Revolts” at a Cleveland Council on World Affairs event. The council says Mr. Toensing has written for many U.S. newspapers and magazines, has appeared in hundreds of radio and television programs to discuss Middle East politics, and spoken widely in the United States on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Iraq war and U.S. policy in the Middle East. The event starts at 6 p.m. and takes place at the Union Club. Ticket information is here.

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